Farewell 5302 Graystone - Part 2

On the page linked here, I talked about the flood and repair of my folks home at 5302 Graystone lane. For this page, I thought I'd take a walk down memory lane and take a look back at the memories and happy times we spent at that old house. My parents bought it when I was 5 years old, way back in 1970. My dad passed in 2014, and my mom is now in assisted living. The house was sold to new owners in November of 2024.

In late 2024, we sold my parents house that they purchased way back in 1970.

The 1970's

That's me! I'm about 5 years old with our dog Chugger.
You can see the original layout of the small galley kitchen, and the wonderful yellow/avocado appliances.
The Mexican tile was an upgrade, and you gotta love that wood paneling!

I think this is around 1971 or 1972.
That's my grandmother MaMa, and my great Aunt Bee sitting in front of the new waterfall.
I remember my folks telling me how they had to 'wine and dine' this landscaper who did work in the Memorial area

My great Uncle Joe Casselberry and his wife Bee.
I can remember - before they started building behind us, my dad and brother used to take the .22 rifle out in the woods behind the house to hunt.

If I counted the candles correctly, this is my 9th birthday in 1973.
To my left and going clockwise is Scott Gray, John Alderink, Robbie Emr, Jay Stewart and Rob Phillips

Christmas 1976 - the bicentennial year.
I've always enjoyed playing pinball. My grandfather PaPa (mom's dad), and my dad and brother (with braces on his teeth)

My mother never could take a good picture - she was always cutting off everyone's head.
If she would have aimed a bit higher, you'd see me helping my brother and Mike Burch paint the house while gripping with my feet.

And so begins the tradition of taking family pictures in front of the fireplace

In this picture you can see the side of the house before the renovation/add-on.
In 1978, my brother had his 1975 Camaro pinstriped.
I later bought this car from my brother when I was 17.

My brother during his Urban Cowboy phase

Scott Henry and I in the back yard in 1979.

The 1980's

December 1980 - I was 16 years old

Sometime around 1981, I purchased my brother's Camaro which he had painted black.

In 1982, I had a girlfriend, and a nice car.
I thought I was king of the world back then.
Notice the chair we're in - those never changed

1985 - I was in the middle of my college time at UT Austin

Top pic is my Aunt Clarita, cousin Tracy, Aunt Jane and my Grandmother
Bottom pic is my Uncle Joe, Uncle Tim and my dad

In the pics above you will notice the wood paneling has been painted, and the appliances have been updated as well.
ALSO - a new pool!! I was mad that my parents waited until I'd left for college to build a pool.

Top pic is my cousin Tim and Aunt Clarita
Bottom pic is....well other than my folks I have no idea who they are.

1989 - by this time I'd graduated college and had been working at my first job for about a couple years.

Top pic is Kathleen, who I dated for about 6 months, with my dad and I
Bottom pic is Cousin Tracy with her mom Jane (my mom's sister)

Tracy with her Dad Tim

Why are me and my brother dressed like twins??

Top pic is my Uncle Dave, his wife Mary (my dad's sister) and my cousin Shelly

Top pic is Aunt Mary, Shelly, her husband John and her brother, my cousin Joe

Why did me and my brother dress like twins for this party?
And check out that fancy VHS tape recorder!!
Be thankful I'm not posting videos as well.

Top pic is Uncle Dave and Aunt Mary.
Bottom pic is their kids and my cousins David and Joe

The 1990's

Christmas 1990
Everything's always a competition for my brother. Whenever we take a picture together, he gets on his tip-toes to be taller

Hello Jacqui!!
We look so young enjoying my folks pool back in 1992

Christmas 1992

1993

Christmas 1995
Jacqui and I got married that year, and Bill started dating his future wife

1997
Bill restored a very nice Ford Mustang.
It's also a good shot of the house before the add-on.

Christmas 1998 - I am TALLER than you!!
Bill and Ilonka were married in '97

OK, seriously now, another family pic in front of the fireplace

Who are all these people?
Ok, let me try..
Top row: ??, Cousin Joe's 1st wife, my mom, David's second wife Julie, Ilonka, Jacqui, Aunt Clarita, and cousin Pam
Bottom row: Cousin Pat, Aunt Mary, Cousin Mary Louise, Cousin Jenny and her daughter

Most all of the same folks as above with the addition of my cousin Robert

The Doss family

Top: Robert Jr, Jenny and her husband Shilo
Bottom: Pat and Robert with Pam

Christmas 1999
Trey makes his first appearance!!

The 2000's

In 2000, I got a new digital video camera.
At the time I thought it was awesome, but now the resolution suffers.

And so we have a few tiny, grainy pictures from the year 2000

Christmas 2001
Lauren makes her 1st appearance!!
Even more shocking - I'm a FATHER now!

Christmas 2002
Blake makes his first Christmas appearance!!

Christmas 2003
Lauren Trey and Pops
Pops really did enjoy time with his grandkids

A remote controlled boat - we gotta play with that now!
Bill and I watch as Trey drives and Lauren is surely talking to Pops and Blake

Lauren is three in this picture - so cute!

Christmas 2004

In 2004, Austin enjoys his first Christmas while less than a month old!!

Christmas 2005

It was about this time that my parents added on to the house, and created an 'open living' concept.
You can see the extra space to the left of the chimney

My 42nd Birthday in 2006

Christmas 2006
Austin is two years old

Thanksgiving 2007
My dad had some skin cancer removed - ouch!

Christmas 2007

And so begins a new tradition of taking the annual family picture in front of the Christmas tree

I'm going to miss that place...

Christmas 2008

Here's a picture in Pop's office, where his patent diagrams hang on the wall
Pops would make 'treasure hunt' clues from Santa where he'd lead the kids all around the house.
Each clue would lead to the next, until they found their present.

Christmas 2009

Smile - you're on camera!

Christmas 2010
The grandkids are getting bigger

Lauren is 10 years old

OK! It's time for another treasure hunt!
What's the clue say Blake?

Christmas 2011

Austin is excited!

...and now he's tired.

Christmas 2012

Sometimes Christmas could be messy

Pops was 50% correct
Blake did go to UT, but Trey became an Aggie at A&M

SOO many memories about the 'luminaries' - the candles in a bag.
It was a wonderful tradition that the entire neighborhood participated in, and looked amazing at night
And you can imagine as kids how many bags we set on fire....accidently of course

Christmas 2013
Lauren is a teenager
I have a teenage daughter - oh my
And wow - Jacqui is beautiful - I'm a lucky man

The Famous Side-Board!!
It's that piece of furniture against the wall that looks like a bar.
Evidently it came from Jeckel Island from one of our old relatives
It's a big deal to my mom

Sadly, we didn't know 2013 would be Pop's last Christmas
He passed in February of 2014
And like everything he did, we went with a bang - just dropped while running on the treadmill at the gym.
I want to go like that - running right up to the end
...ok, tears...

Christmas 2014
Paris puppy!!

2014 was the 1st Christmas without my dad
It was tough for everyone, but I'm sure my mom hurt more than anyone
Being with her grandkids made it so much better

Christmas 2015

Christmas 2016
It seems the years are just flying by at this point

Christmas 2017

Christmas 2018

You'll notice my mom didn't put up as many decorations this year
But the house still looks beautiful at Christmas time

MMmmmmm, I'm hungry

And here we are eating again!
Thanksgiving 2019
To Ilonka's left is her mom's man friend

Christmas 2019

The kids, heck - everyone's getting bigger

Christmas 2020
Austin is 16 and Lauren is 20!
...I won't say how old the rest of us are

Christmas 2021

Christmas 2022

Christmas 2023
If you've made it this far, you probably know this was our last Christmas in this house
After FIFTY THREE years of celebrating Christmas and other holidays and birthdays and ...life.

53 years of life in that house...and it's sad to say good-bye.

Christmas 2023
Our last family photo at 5302 Graystone